]]>Parents are their children’s first teacher, brain builder, tech navigator, advocate and coach. They are the secret sauce to their children’s success. Check out these free parent resources from the National Campaign.

]]>http://readdbq.org/2018/02/20/parent-success/feed/0Prescriptions for Learninghttp://readdbq.org/2018/02/20/prescriptions-for-learning/
http://readdbq.org/2018/02/20/prescriptions-for-learning/#respondTue, 20 Feb 2018 17:17:03 +0000http://readdbq.org/?p=843Mind in the Making explores answers from pediatricians to some of the most common questions ranging from enjoying tummy time, to how to stop a toddler from hitting to sibling rivalry, school readiness and more.

]]>Mind in the Making explores answers from pediatricians to some of the most common questions ranging from enjoying tummy time, to how to stop a toddler from hitting to sibling rivalry, school readiness and more.

]]>http://readdbq.org/2018/02/20/prescriptions-for-learning/feed/0New Jackson County Pilot Program to Boost Literacy Through Well-Child Visitshttp://readdbq.org/2018/02/20/new-jackson-county-pilot-program-boost-literacy-well-child-visits/
http://readdbq.org/2018/02/20/new-jackson-county-pilot-program-boost-literacy-well-child-visits/#respondTue, 20 Feb 2018 17:15:15 +0000http://readdbq.org/?p=842Inspired by a similar project in Dyersville, the Jackson County Campaign for Grade-Level Reading is partnering with Maquoketa Medical Associates to launch a pilot project to share books and the importance of reading to parents of young children at well-child visits. “It’s so crucial for parents to be engaged in the home with their children,” […]

]]>Inspired by a similar project in Dyersville, the Jackson County Campaign for Grade-Level Reading is partnering with Maquoketa Medical Associates to launch a pilot project to share books and the importance of reading to parents of young children at well-child visits.

“It’s so crucial for parents to be engaged in the home with their children,” says Jackson County Coordinator Rachel Williams. “Nationally, an estimated 61 percent of low-income children have no books at home. Our hope is that by reaching families at these essential well-child visits, we can help increase access to books for people in need and stress the importance of reading with your kids.”

In June 2014, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) released a policy statement declaring that literacy promotion is “an essential component of primary care pediatric practice.” Within the policy statement, the AAP emphasized that providers of pediatric health care can and should promote early literacy development for the children and families that they serve.

The pilot program will provide a free, developmentally appropriate book to children at their well-child checks and will also include educational print materials with each book that highlights developmentally appropriate ways for parents to support their child’s literacy and socio-emotional growth, as well as local community resources. Maquoketa Medical Associates has approximately 75 well-child checks per year at each age level.

The project was funded by a grant from the Iowa Department of Human Services and will continue the Campaign’s work to improve access to books for children in Jackson County.

]]>http://readdbq.org/2018/02/20/new-jackson-county-pilot-program-boost-literacy-well-child-visits/feed/0Bilingual Books Increase Parent Engagement in Dyersville Schoolshttp://readdbq.org/2018/02/20/bilingual-books-increase-parent-engagement-dyersville-schools/
http://readdbq.org/2018/02/20/bilingual-books-increase-parent-engagement-dyersville-schools/#respondTue, 20 Feb 2018 17:11:14 +0000http://readdbq.org/?p=840Research shows that learning begins long before a child enters kindergarten. Children—even infants—soak up words, rhymes, songs and images. Vocabulary development is particularly important. But what if parents at home don’t have access to books they can read in their native language? This is a problem partners in Dyersville realized parents of English as a […]

]]>Research shows that learning begins long before a child enters kindergarten. Children—even infants—soak up words, rhymes, songs and images. Vocabulary development is particularly important.

But what if parents at home don’t have access to books they can read in their native language?

This is a problem partners in Dyersville realized parents of English as a Second Language (ESL) students faced. Many ESL students didn’t have access to books at home. And to make matters worse, while many of the ESL students did speak English, their parents did not—leading to a gap in reading at home.

To address this need, the Dyersville Campaign for Grade-Level Reading received a Black Hills Energy grant to receive bilingual books. ESL teachers at Dyersville Elementary and St. Francis Xavier partnered with Scholastic to select books for various ages to create a shared library between both schools.

“We try our best to help our ESL parents become an integral part of their children’s education,” says at St. Francis Xavier Resource Teacher/ESL Coordinator Amy Vorwald. “It not only benefits our current ESL students but it also gives the parents books to read to younger children at home.”

Students are able to check out books from a revolving library and take their favorites home to build their personal library. This new collaborative initiative will allow parents to engage and interact with their students in a way they were not able to before.

“When I shared the books with my students for the first time, big smiles came across their faces and they each shared how excited they were about the new books, saying things like, ‘My mom and dad can read this to me!’ After giving out the books, many of my students came back the next day and proudly told me they read the book and couldn’t wait to pick out a new one to take home,” says Dyersville Elementary English Language Learner Teacher Laura Scherbring. “Being able to send books home with students, especially bilingual books, and provide them with the opportunity to build their love for reading is such a great experience to witness, and we are so grateful everyone who made this possible.”

]]>http://readdbq.org/2018/02/20/bilingual-books-increase-parent-engagement-dyersville-schools/feed/0Dubuque Campaign to Host Parent Engagement Sessions at Multicultural Family Centerhttp://readdbq.org/2018/02/20/dubuque-campaign-host-parent-engagement-sessions-multicultural-family-center/
http://readdbq.org/2018/02/20/dubuque-campaign-host-parent-engagement-sessions-multicultural-family-center/#respondTue, 20 Feb 2018 17:07:54 +0000http://readdbq.org/?p=838Studies have shown that parent engagement is crucial to a child’s well-being. When parents are engaged, students perform better in school. They earn better grades, improve test scores, increase attendance, gain more motivation and self-esteem, and have fewer behavioral issues. To address this need, the Dubuque Campaign is partnering with the Multicultural Family Center (MFC) […]

]]>Studies have shown that parent engagement is crucial to a child’s well-being. When parents are engaged, students perform better in school. They earn better grades, improve test scores, increase attendance, gain more motivation and self-esteem, and have fewer behavioral issues.

To address this need, the Dubuque Campaign is partnering with the Multicultural Family Center (MFC) to host six parent engagement sessions for a diverse group of 25 people. The project was funded by a grant from the Iowa Department of Human Services.

The parent engagement sessions will offer hands-on activities and small group roundtable discussions (facilitated by the MFC, Community Foundation employees and parents from the Washington Neighborhood) to better serve the educational needs of children in our community. Participants will receive tools and resources to help in the education of their children and skills to teach peers in their neighborhoods.

Sessions include:

How reading skills affect high school graduation rates and future job performance

Creating literacy toolkits

The importance of play

Building strong connections between school and home

Team building activities for a final group project that will promote parent engagement in local neighborhoods

Presentation of final group project

A meal and snacks will be available for the children and parents involved in the six evening sessions.

]]>http://readdbq.org/2018/02/20/dubuque-campaign-host-parent-engagement-sessions-multicultural-family-center/feed/0Meet Jamiehttp://readdbq.org/2018/02/20/meet-jamie/
http://readdbq.org/2018/02/20/meet-jamie/#respondTue, 20 Feb 2018 14:04:54 +0000http://readdbq.org/?p=819Jamie may just be a few months old, but like too many children from low-income families, she will begin school already far behind. Since Jamie is less likely to be read or spoken to regularly or have access to books, high-quality daycare, and prekindergarten programs, she will be two times more likely to experience developmental […]

]]>Jamie may just be a few months old, but like too many children from low-income families, she will begin school already far behind.

Since Jamie is less likely to be read or spoken to regularly or have access to books, high-quality daycare, and prekindergarten programs, she will be two times more likely to experience developmental delays. By kindergarten, Jamie will be 12 to 14 months behind her friends from middle-income families. By third grade, she will be 2 to 2.5 years behind in critical reading skills. Overall, Jamie will be 13 times more likely to drop out than her more affluent friends.

Like Jamie, many students in our region are not currently reading at grade level.

Fortunately for local kids like Jamie, the Northeast Iowa Campaign for Grade-Level Reading is working hard with local partners to make sure that all students can succeed. Here are just a few of the things partners in your area are working on today:

In Dubuque, parent engagement sessions at the Multicultural Family Center are empowering 25 ambitious parents to become reading ambassadors in their neighborhoods, sharing the importance of parental involvement in childhood development;

In Dyersville, partners are providing bilingual books for ESL households, allowing parents to read to their kids in their native languages;

And in Jackson County, the Campaign is partnering with Maquoketa Medical Associates to provide books and early learning resources to families at well-child visits.

]]>http://readdbq.org/2018/02/20/meet-jamie/feed/0Summer Adventure Improves Reading Scores for Kids in Jackson Countyhttp://readdbq.org/2017/12/19/summer-adventure-improves-reading-scores-kids-jackson-county/
http://readdbq.org/2017/12/19/summer-adventure-improves-reading-scores-kids-jackson-county/#respondTue, 19 Dec 2017 20:36:03 +0000http://readdbq.org/?p=710The morning started with a free bus ride and breakfast, the most important meal of the day some would say. A morning of high-quality reading and math instruction followed before students ate lunch and headed off to their afternoon adventure. Whether it was learning about robots, doing yoga or exploring nature, students were able to […]

]]>The morning started with a free bus ride and breakfast, the most important meal of the day some would say. A morning of high-quality reading and math instruction followed before students ate lunch and headed off to their afternoon adventure. Whether it was learning about robots, doing yoga or exploring nature, students were able to experience activities that challenged their minds, while having fun all at the same time.

This may not sound like your typical summer school, but for kids in Jackson County, summer school has truly become a Summer Adventure that keeps kids and parents wanting more. Evaluations of Jackson County’s Summer Adventure 2017 had a clear and consistent message: students learned, had fun, and both students and parents hope the program is offered again next year.

“Students are excited to attend Summer Adventure and look forward to the afternoon enrichment activities,” said Patty Schmidt, principal at Easton Valley Elementary School. “We’ve seen great growth in students who’ve attended the program.”

For the second year in a row, Summer Adventure has provided students in need of additional reading support with targeted instruction and hands-on enrichment over the summer months. During a time when students typically lose some of the skills that they had gained during the school year, data from Summer Adventure is showing the exact opposite. During the 2016 pilot program, 76% of students maintained or increased their reading proficiency and in 2017, 72% maintained or increased.

Summer Adventure is the product of a network of organizations who work together year-round to make the program happen. Elementary school principals from the four communities in Jackson County and two parochial schools meet throughout the year with community team members to collaboratively develop the program, write grants and create plans to securing funding, and collect and analyze data.

Summer Adventure couldn’t happen without the support of local community members and organizations including the Community Foundation of Jackson County, the McDonough Foundation, Theisen’s Home • Farm • Auto, and local community members Dave and Penny North.

]]>http://readdbq.org/2017/12/19/summer-adventure-improves-reading-scores-kids-jackson-county/feed/0Family Literacy Nights Foster Parent Engagement in Dyersvillehttp://readdbq.org/2017/12/19/family-literacy-nights-foster-parent-engagement-dyersville/
http://readdbq.org/2017/12/19/family-literacy-nights-foster-parent-engagement-dyersville/#respondTue, 19 Dec 2017 20:34:04 +0000http://readdbq.org/?p=708Family literacy nights have become a key strategy for the Dyersville Campaign for Grade-Level Reading. Initially, family literacy nights were created to give area providers a platform to share resources, provide information about the importance of reading aloud, and encourage parents to create an environment at home where reading is fun and a part of […]

]]>Family literacy nights have become a key strategy for the Dyersville Campaign for Grade-Level Reading. Initially, family literacy nights were created to give area providers a platform to share resources, provide information about the importance of reading aloud, and encourage parents to create an environment at home where reading is fun and a part of the daily routine. However, over the past few years, these nights have transformed to meet the needs of families.

Last year, a summer literacy event was held in the park near a low-income housing complex with the goal to reach the families that might not have access to transportation. The event started with a typical recipe for a great family literacy event—a free family meal, books to giveaway, and volunteers reading to the kids and helping them with their plates of food. This event though, was the start of something special and needed to make a lasting change—relationship building. Instead of attending the event just to get free books and food, families were getting to know the volunteers and building a relationship with them.

Trust and relationships are core to the work that we do. Especially in a rural community, we need trust to make our strategies work. Our schools have created a trusting and safe environment for the students, but as a community, our work can only be done when we know who our neighbors are and create an environment where people feel genuinely cared about.

We continue to hold family literacy events on a regular basis where we provide a free meal, free books, and provide families with resources to reinforce literacy at home. More importantly, we are creating spaces and a community where lasting impact and change occurs, all with a focus on our future leaders.

]]>http://readdbq.org/2017/12/19/family-literacy-nights-foster-parent-engagement-dyersville/feed/0Strong Partnerships Impact Reading Scores and Attendance for Dubuque Studentshttp://readdbq.org/2017/09/05/strong-partnerships-impact-reading-scores-attendance-dubuque-students/
http://readdbq.org/2017/09/05/strong-partnerships-impact-reading-scores-attendance-dubuque-students/#respondTue, 05 Sep 2017 08:00:03 +0000http://readdbq.org/?p=683When Lenore Meyer found out that one of her students had listed “Mrs. Meyer” as her favorite thing about school, she knew she was doing something right. Working as an AmeriCorps academic tutor during the 2016-2017 school year, Lenore would work with students on their reading skills, but more importantly, she was another caring adult […]

When Lenore Meyer found out that one of her students had listed “Mrs. Meyer” as her favorite thing about school, she knew she was doing something right. Working as an AmeriCorps academic tutor during the 2016-2017 school year, Lenore would work with students on their reading skills, but more importantly, she was another caring adult in their lives who was excited about their accomplishments.

Three years ago, it was hard to imagine what type of impact AmeriCorps Partners in Learning could make when it partnered with the Dubuque Community School District (DCSD) to improve reading proficiency. Fast forward to today: Not only are AmeriCorps members helping to improve reading proficiency, but they are also positively affecting attendance rates.

“The support from the school district and each building is incredible. We’re really excited to have data to back up all the great collaboration that is happening,” said Mary Bridget Corken-Deutsch, AmeriCorps program director. “Really our success is because of the work that happens between our AmeriCorps members and each school’s teachers, staff, instructional coaches and principals. They are the real champions of this program.”

Since the 2014-2015 school year, AmeriCorps members have been trained by DCSD staff and collaborated closely with elementary school classroom teachers and instructional coaches to provide one-on-one or small-group tutoring sessions to struggling readers in kindergarten through third grade. Over the past three years, data shows that the percentage of students that have improved their reading proficiency after working with the AmeriCorps members has consistently increased.

“I would take students out into the hallway for one-on-one time to work on their literacy skills. We would do site words, spelling words or read books. That individual attention made a difference and gave the students a sense of accomplishment,” said Meyer. “So many of these kids we were working with had a lot of other outside factors affecting their ability to learn in school. Helping them deal with these outside forces and concentrate on their learning was a big challenge but it was so rewarding.”

In addition to impacting reading scores, these AmeriCorps members also play a significant mentoring role for the students. During the 2016-2017 school year, 88 percent of students who worked with AmeriCorps members had an attendance rate of 90 percent or higher. In the previous two years, more than 90 percent of the students who worked with the AmeriCorps members had an attendance rate of 90 percent or higher (2014-2015: 96%, 2015-2016: 94%).

Throughout the three years of the program, these AmeriCorps members have consistently worked with more than 1,500 students. Having another consistent, caring adult in these student’s lives has made an important impact in their ability to succeed in school. Research tells us that kindergarteners who miss 10% of school days have lower academic performance when they reach first grade. Providing students with another mentor who they know cares whether they show up to school or not can make all the difference in the world.

]]>http://readdbq.org/2017/09/05/strong-partnerships-impact-reading-scores-attendance-dubuque-students/feed/0Creating a Culture of Summer Learning in Northeast Iowahttp://readdbq.org/2017/07/27/creating-culture-summer-learning-northeast-iowa/
http://readdbq.org/2017/07/27/creating-culture-summer-learning-northeast-iowa/#respondThu, 27 Jul 2017 19:37:54 +0000http://readdbq.org/?p=675For hundreds of kids across Dubuque and Jackson Counties, this summer was not only a time to explore new things and have fun, but it was also a time to keep learning all summer long. Research shows that summer learning loss is one of the most significant causes of the achievement gap between lower- and […]

]]>For hundreds of kids across Dubuque and Jackson Counties, this summer was not only a time to explore new things and have fun, but it was also a time to keep learning all summer long. Research shows that summer learning loss is one of the most significant causes of the achievement gap between lower- and higher-income youth and one of the strongest contributors to high school dropout rates. With this in mind, the Campaigns for Grade-Level Reading in Dubuque, Dyersville and Jackson County have all put a strong focus on working with partners to create a robust summer learning environment in each community.

Dubuque

Hundreds of students in Dubuque benefit from the collaboration of partners in the Campaign for Grade-Level Reading to create strong summer learning opportunities. Programs like Summer Academy, facilitated by the school district, St. Mark’s Heroes Summer Academy, and Cool School at the YMCA/YWCA all include high-quality literacy instruction and enrichment opportunities. These programs have proven to make an impact in reading proficiency and benefit from numerous community partners who provide enrichment opportunities.

In addition to these programs, many other community partners offer learning opportunities throughout the summer. The City of Dubuque Leisure Services playground program has made changes in recent years to include a literacy component, recognizing the importance of having learning opportunities for their participants. The Carnegie-Stout Public Library also offers multiple programs throughout the summer to encourage kids to keep reading and learning, and AmeriCorps Partners in Learning offers key support to many of these already mentioned.

“There are so many partners working together to create a rich summer learning environment in Dubuque,” said Julee Albers, director of youth impact at CFGD. “This collaboration makes it possible for so many kids to have access to quality programs, but we know there are still kids that we are missing. Partners in the Campaign are always looking for ways we can continue to improve and increase our impact.”

Jackson County

For 169 students in Jackson County, summer has turned into quite an adventure! Summer Adventure, a county-wide summer learning program, recently concluded its second year of programming. Summer Adventure offers much more than a traditional summer school model—providing transportation, breakfast, morning literacy instruction, lunch, afternoon enrichment activities, field trips, afternoon snack and transportation home.

In 2015, administrators from four school districts and two parochial schools who are partners in the Jackson County Campaign for Grade-Level Reading were determined to improve their summer learning opportunities – especially for students struggling to read. The result of their collaboration was a pilot program of Summer Adventure in 2016, where data showed that 76% of students maintained or improved their reading proficiency.

When asked, students said their favorite things about Summer Adventure were the robots, the teachers, reading books and meeting new friends. Parents were also excited about the program with one commenting, “I think this is such an amazing program and I’m very fortunate that my daughter has been able to attend. She continues to work on her math and reading and wants to do it even when not in school!”

Dyersville

Over 60 students from kindergarten to fifth grade from Dyersville Elementary, Xavier and other surrounding schools participated in the St. Mark Youth Enrichment summer program that focused on reading proficiency, as well as social-emotional skills. Kids looked forward to hands-on enrichment activities, field trips, and being silly with their teachers and friends. All of this created the perfect scenario—kids were learning without even realizing it!

For the second year in a row, Iowa State Extension and Outreach and the City of Dyersville Park and Rec Department teamed up to provide an afternoon option on Tuesdays for kids who were attending the summer learning program or any child who was looking for an enriching way to learn about STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math).

Along with the St. Mark program, reading is also encouraged on a daily basis through Victory Ford’s Reading for a Reason program and the James Kennedy Public Library’s summer reading program. Both of these programs incentivize and reward students who read throughout the summer.

“It’s exciting to see all the programming taking place in summer,” Jessica Pape, community coordinator for the Dyersville Campaign for Grade-Level Reading shared. “When I think back to three years ago, we have made some incredible advances in what is available to all kids throughout the summer in Dyersville.”